Speaking this morning on John Gambling’s radio show, Gov. David Paterson took issue with PEF President Ken Brynien’s contention that state workers unions have already sacrificed to help close the yawning budget deficit.

In a piece of audio that Gambling used to precede his interview with the governor, Brynien said, “We are sharing. The workforce has been trimmed by thousands over the last few years. All of our people are doing more work with fewer hands. The governor said his own office is doing more work with fewer hands so they were getting promotions. Nobody else is getting promotions when they’re doing more with less.”

After the recording played, Paterson countered, “The PEF employees in the state of New York, in the last year, have received five hundred promotions. …That is an irrefutable fact.” The governor also claimed that Brynien’s remarks implied that the state has laid employees off, while any decreases in the state workforce have come through hiring freezes and attrition.

When Gambling mentioned PEF’s proposal to rid the state workforce of contractors and consultants, Paterson countered, “Why are we looking to get rid of consultants–who number in the hundreds, or in the thousands–compared to the state workforce, which has two hundred thousand employees?”

Turning to other subjects, Paterson insisted that the tax on sugary drinks was not dead as long as legislative leaders couldn’t find the needed revenue to achieve their spending restorations.

The governor also said he was seriously considering using the Environmental Protection Fund to keep 55 state parks and historic sites open.

Paterson closed the interview by saying, “The union has all day to refute what I just said. I can’t wait to hear their response.”